France urges Turkey and EU states to ease tensions

PARIS (Reuters) - France urged Turkey and several EU member states to calm tensions and said there had been no reason to prohibit a meeting on its soil on Sunday between Ankara's foreign minister and a local Turkish association.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu addressed a public meeting in eastern France on Sunday a day after the Netherlands barred his plane from landing in a row over Ankara's political campaigning among Turkish emigres.

"In the absence of a proven threat to public order, there was no reason to prohibit the meeting," the Foreign Ministry said in the statement.

"Given the current tensions between Turkey and several member states of the European Union, France calls for a de-escalation".

"It also calls on the Turkish authorities to avoid excesses and provocations," the ministry added.